Death of the PC gammer?

[Spriggan]

I just read a rencent article over at Gamespot about a rumor that both EBgames and GameStop (what use to be babbages) are planning on removeing PC games from all of their stores because of very poor sales.  According to the article only 7% of GameStop's total sales were for the PC.  Of course both companies CEO's deney the rumor.  Also mentioned in the article are that also PC developers feel that the PC is being less supported by consumers as well.

So why the declining sales?  I think its for a few reasons.  One is that it use to be that PC's had exclusive games that were very good.  Like quake, counter strike, diablo and warcraft series.   And if these games were ported to a console they never looked that good.  Now the consoles have the exclusive games that make PC players upset/jelious (starcraft ghost or Fable anyone?). And PC most PC games comeout for the consoles (Doom 3 is comming out on the XBox around the same time as it's PC release).  This brings me to my second point is that now a days consoles look as good as PC games do.  True those who "trick" out their PC's by spending several thousand dollars for a gamming PC with the best avlible stuff will have better looking graphics, but the difference between the two isn't worth the price in my opinion.  So price is another factor, 150-200 dollars compaired to 700-1000 for basicaly the same graphics.  2000+ for better graphics.  And the last point is multi-player/internet based game, which the XBox has showen consoles can do realy well.  And that use to be another PC strong point.

Now I don't think the PC will die as a game machine, but I'm struck by the sales figures of Gamestop which is one of the top retailers in the US.  So what do you all think?  Is it just a poor year for PC sales or will this trend continue?

NOTE: I know there are several of you that are PC die hards.  Responses like consoles suck and PC's rule don't do anything to further this discussion.  So don't do it.  Also no PC's suck comments either.  I will edit or delete any such comments out.  Thouh saying one is inferior to the other is acceptable, just give a reason for your thoughts.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

well, I'm far from being an expert, but it seems to me that PC users will always want games, but here's the problem. I can play a game that game out 7-8 years ago on my current PC. And I will. In fact, I've just almost finished all the Starcraft and Starcraft: Broodwar campaigns again. Consoles can't do that on the same machine. Though the gamers may still have their old machines hidden away somewhere. I can play my old games just by slipping in a CD though, I don't have to lug out the old console. So if I want to play a different game, I don't have to go out and buy a brand new game. I can just pop in something that I finished 5 or 6 years ago, it'll be a nice change of pace. Heck, I can even buy games that came out 5 or 6 years ago for cheap on half.com and play a game I've never played before. Plus there are the tweaks and mods. Just modding UT made it re-playable for years and years. And then all the really old games are tweaked to play on modern machines: you can get copies of Bard's Tale and play them on your new PC.
THe problem is there are too many alternatives to buying new games: you don't have to drop as much cash to play a variety of games. While that's an advantage to me, it doesn't help the industry.

Not the final word, obviously, but that's my 2bits

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Oh, I also wanted to add that cracks are more common on PCs than consoles. That doesn't help sales numbers

[Spriggan]

SE you're kinda wrong about your assesment of older games.  PC's are just as incompatable with playing older games as consoles are, the term for this is backward compatability.  Just wait till PC's move to 64bit OS and kiss your starcraft goodbuy.  You can't play most win95 games (ie ones before 98 came out) or ealier games on newier PC's.  There are games that were win 95 that couldn't run on 98 (all be it few).  So they have close to the same life with PC's fareing a little better.  Consoles are about 6 years while PC's are roughly 10 years.  Now a days consoles are heading more for backward compatability.  The ps2 runs psone games, and it's comfirmed that the PS3 will run ps2 and thus psone games.  It;s not confirmed (that I know of) of weither or not the XBox2 will be backwards compatable, but Microsoft has stated they'd like it to be.  How the PS2 does it is that there's an psone emulator preinstalled on the PS2.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Yes and no Spriggan, because PC's are capable of running emulations, which is why I can play dig-dug on my PC at home, or the Original Final Fantasy for Nintendo. With the right emulator and PC I can play just about any game availible ever.

[Spriggan]

Ya, you'll allwayse have to get the emulator and then there's the question of the legality of it as well.  Your point is a good one, but I was trying to go with the pick it up and play it theme SE was aludeing to.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

good point about the legality, to this date I dont think there is a single legal game emulator on the market.
Still they are readily availible.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I can still play the ORIGINAL command and concquer (10 years old or so) on my AMD Thunderbird 1.2. XP has this nice little "compatibility mode" setting. I'll wager they put it in 64bit OS's too. SO yes, I can play my really old games.

THis compatibility mode is INTERNAL to Windows, and will work on anything since Win95, and most DOS programs. It's not illegal or anything.

But like I said, the illegal options are more common for PC gaming too, giving another reason why PC Gamers don't buy as much as a demographic.

[Prometheus]

One thing I've also noticed about the current console game market is that many, many console games are designed for people with a 5-frame attention span. I don't see that much in PC games anymore. Another big factor is that PC games are tending to run in the more MMORPG realms, where the purchase of the game does not equal the amount a consumer will spend on it. Such games also devour much of a single consumer's time and effort, making spending-spree purchases less likely.

There are exceptions of course, but I consider myself much more likely to see Homeworld 2 on the PC game shelves and Need for Speed 2 or somesuch on the console shelves.

[EUOL]

I think Sprig has a point.  Now, I've generally been a PC gamer as opposed to a console gamer.  However, that's because I'm cheap.  

I have to have a computer (for writing.)  I don't have to have a console.  I don't buy a better PC simply because I want to play better games.  I think I'm in a minority, and I've always kind of thought that people who buy great 'gamer' PC's are a bit foolish.  (But only a bit, for now.)  

A console is a specialized machine designed to run games.  As Consoles move more and more into on-line gaming, I think they will infringe more and more upon PC gaming sales.  Essentially, consoles will become specialized gaming PC's.  In the end, if the games are the same on both, and the console is significantly cheaper, why wouldn't you just buy the console?